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unirsi) saires PATENT orrioii.

DUSTIN F. MELLEN, or wENtrwoRaH, NEW HAMPsriIRn y `iviiiniian FORsau/ING cnAPBoARDs, au.

`Specification of Letters Patent No. 11,568; dated August 22, 1854.

T 0 all 'whom t may concern: l Be it known that I, D. F. MELLEN, ofWentworth, in the county of Grafton and State of New Hampshire, haveinvented certain `new and useful Improvements in` Machines for SawingClapboards, of `which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, Vmakingpart of this specification. I

`In `machines f for sawing clapboards `as heretofore constructed asingle stationary saw has been'employed, the log being movedlongitudinally above it and lowered as the successive layers `ofclapboards were taken 'Ihe obj ect ofremy y improvements is toaccelerate the operation and increase theproduct of machines ofthiskind, and my invention consists firstly in the arrangement of twosaws in swinging frames which are allowed to vibrate' tol and from eachother to accommodate the distance between them to the varying diametersof the logs from l-which the clapboards are to be cut.

l should remain invariable as otherwise the thickness of the" clapboardswill` vary. If the feeding pawl be caused to strike against a`stationary dog the feed may be `greater at one time than at anothershould the momentum of the carriage vary. If the mo- `tion` of thefeeding pawl be limited by a fixed stop unless the motion of thecarriage cease at the eXact instant when the pawl is brought down uponits stop, great strain if not the rupture of some of the` parts, will bethe consequence.` To remove this difliculty is the object of my thirdimprovement which consists in causing `the feeding pawl` f to strikeagainst a rigid stop' andin combithe carriage, in the fol-lowing manner.

`refractory lumber or `where there is a 'deflciency oflpower, `whichlatter often occurs in seasons when the streams are low, to operatethesawssingly, eachimakingits' cut as the carriage takes out or in; toaccomplish this is the object of my fourth improvement, which consistsina peculiar method `of raising and lowering the saws so as to bringthem alternately into operation, as will be hereafter fully explained.

To` enable others skilled in the art to make and use my inventionI willproceed to describethe mannerin which I have carriedit out.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of amachine' with my` improvements attached. 'Fig` 2 is a plan of the same;`Fig. 3 a longitudinal section upon the line A A of Fig. 2. Figs. t, 5,6, 7, 8, 9, l0 and l1 are details which will be referred to hereafter.

The general features of the machine `will first be described and thenthe improvements which I have added thereto.`

C is the frame work of the machine,\D` the carriage in which the log isdogged, from which the clap-boards are to be cut. Thiscarriage runs uponways E and is driven back and forth with an equable m0- tio'n in thefollowing manner.

F is a rack bar which is hinged to the rear of the `carriage at a andengages with the cog wheel Z) upon 'the transverse shaft 0,' this shaftalso carries another cog wheel Gr which engages with the gear d upon theshaft fr This latter shaft is driven alterna-tely in one direction andthe other for the` purpose of bringing in and carrying out H is a set ofcone pulleys loose upon the shaft f which are driven in one direction bya band from a corresponding set of pulleys `K upon the main drivingshaft M. is another set of pulleys` also loose upon they `shaft f andwhich are driven in a contrary direction by a'crossed band from thepulleys L also on the main shaft. The pulleys Hand I are alternatelymade to drive the shaft" f in one direction and the other by the clutch0 which runs with a spline upon the shaft and which is operated by thec'arriage as follows. l

P is the shipper rod` which carries adjustable dogs g, g; these dogs arealternately `struck by the shipper `upon the carriage,

as the latter arrives at the opposite ends of its traverse, and thus therod P is slid in one direction and the other, by which motion is givento the vertical lever Q, which is jointed to the rod P and pvoted at z'.This lever is connected by the rod R to the bent lever S, S, Fig. 9pivoted at Z4, by which means the bar T and Vclutch O are moved, the armU upon the former guiding the latter in the customary manner.

By moving the clutch O the 'shaft f is causedy to revolve alternately inone direction and the other, and the carriage is takenY out and in-thesprings in advance of the dogs g g receive the blow from the approachingcarriage and prevent it from injuring bv its momentum the partsconnected with the shipper rod.

The saws are arranged in the following manner V, V, are the frames whichvibrate around the main shaft M and carry the saw shafts rlV W at theirouter extremities, these shafts are driven byI bands A A, from thepulleys B, B upon the main driving shaft. The position of the saws X Xwith respect to each other and with respect to the log is determined inthe following manner.

Z is a small shaft running transversely across the upper frame V andcarrying two pulleys m, and a ratchet wheel n. This shaft is turned by akey upon one of its ends which is made square for the purpose, or in anyother suitable manner, and is retained in position by a pawl O.

p are chainswhich pass around and are secured to the pulleys m, theirother ends being attached to the lower saw framek V. This distancebetween the saw frames is adjusted by winding up or letting go thechains p. The two frames are raised and lowered together to accommodatetheir position to that of the log in the following manner. 'g are chainsone end of each of which is attached to the upper frame V at 1'; thesechains pass over the guide rollers s, down through the frame work at t,and are attached at their other ends to pulleys u upon a shaft a whichruns in bent levers b pivoted at the point e upon opposite sides of theframe work. The bent lever Z9 is connected at the point cZ with the rodf for a purpose to be hereafter explained. The shaft a is furnished witha ratchet wheel and pawl similar to those upon the shaft Z for thepurpose of raising and lowering the saw frames.

Where it is desired to operate but one of the saws at a time one cuttingas the log advances, and the other as it returns the following device ismade use of to bring them alternately into operation. j

Zz. is a bolt or catch Figs. 2, 3, 7 and 8 which is hinged to the frameofthe machine and enters one or other of two notches c" in theadjustable dogs Zc"which are secured to the rod f.

e is a spring which bears the catch ZL outward and forces it to enterthe notches z" at certain intervals.

Z is a rod lying immediately over the rod f, and furnished with a wedgeformed piece m', the object of which is to press back the catch lZt outof the notches in the dogs Zc, and thus permit the rod f to be movedlongitudinally.

n, 0', are adjustable dogs upon the rods f, Z', these dogs are operatedupon by the Shipper p attached to the carriage.Y The dogs n are set inadvance of those upon the shaft lf, and 'as the carriage advances theshipper p moves the rod Z longitudinally until the piece m co-mes incontact with the catch Zz. and presses it out of thenotches z". Theshipper p then strikes the dog O which slides the rod f .into a positionwhich enables the catch Zi to enter the other notch i the piece m havingin the meantime passed by to allow the catch to spring linto thernotch.The parts remain in this position until on the return of the carriagethe shipper p is made to operate upon'the other set of dogs n o Fig. bywhich means the rod f is returned to its former position and held lthereby the catch Z1. which enters the other notch z" Figs. 2 and 8 asbefore. The rod f being connected as before described with thebent'lever the latter receives an intermittent vibratory motion aroundits fulcrum C', and the saw frames through the connections alreadydescribed are thus raised and lowered causing the saws alte-rnately tooperate upon the log. This portion of the apparatus is only to be madeuse of where unusually refractory lumber or a deficiency of powerrenders it necessary to employ but one of the saws at a time.

After each -successive cut the log is fed in the following manner. Z" isa spur center, upon which the log is centered, and which carries at itsother end the cog wheel u which engages with the cog wheel '21",' thiswheel again engages with the pinion fw made fast to the bevel wheel ae,which gears with the bevel wheel y; upon the shaft a of this wheel issecured the ratchet wheel 2,' loose upon this same `shaft vibrates thepawl lever Z2 of the formrepresentedin Figs. 4, 5, and 6, this levercarries a pawl c which engages with the teeth of the ratchetwheel e; dis a set screw which limits the motion of the lever b the latter beingborne away from the set screw by the spring 6; these parts are allattached to the carriage.

Motion is given vto the lever b in the following manner: f is a rodwhich slides freely in the sockets g, and has attached to it theadjustable dog Zz, against whichA bears the spring i which tendsconstantly tokeep the dog in contact with one of the sockets g, and tohold the rod f in the t position seen in Figs. 1 and 2.

. stop d.

As the carriage advances the pawl lever b strikes against the rod f andis forced down upon the stop d communicating through its pawl `0 andthe4 intermediate gearing a determinate and unvarying feed to the log.Should the momentum of the carriage drive it still farther after thefeed has been effected, or should the parts which arrest its motion notbe in proper adjustment the spring i will yield allowing` the lever b topress back the rod f and thus no breakage ofthe parts will occur. `terethe lever permitted to strike against a stationary rigid stop and themotion of the carriage continued after the lever was down upon thisstop, the breakage of the parts would inevitably result.

Operation: The log being centered in the carriage as seen in Figs. 2 and3. `The saws 4are adjusted to the proper distance apart by turning theshaft Z and winding up or letting out the chain 7). Theyposition of thetwo saws with regard to the log is then ad justed, by means of the chaing and the shaft a', the saws being raised or lowered` until they are atan equal distance above and below the center of the log; the log is thenallowed to traverse, being driven in one direction or the other as`before explained, by the wheel upon the shaft` 0,

which engages with therack bar F attached to the carriage, each sawmakinga cut upon opposite sides of the lo-g. As soon as Athe log haspassed beyond the saws, the lever b (Figs. 2, et, 5, G) strikes againstthe end of `the rod f and t-he log is revolved thethickness of anothercla-pboard, through the connections already explained, the spring 2'yielding should thecarriage continue to advance after the lever Z2 isdown upon its The next instant the shipper 7L upon the carriage strikesthe dog g or its t accompanying spring Aupon the shipperv rod rod I), bywhich means the clutch O 'is moved, and the motion of the carriage isreversed. Then the log has again passed from under the operation of thesaws, the

lower endn of the lever 2) strikes against the spring rod m, t-heoperation of which is similar to that of f and the logis again fed roundas before. An entire ring of clapboards having been cut from the log,the saws are made to approach each other an amount [equal to double thewidth of the clapboard, by Vwinding up the chains p upon the pulleys m,the position of the saws being again adjusted with respect to the log,by means of the chain g and pulley a, and the works proceeds as before.It is evident that there are other methods by which the other and thelog, which are, the entire equivalent of the chains and pulleys abovereferred to.

Then from any of the causes above referred to, such as unusuallyrefractory lumber or a deficiency of power, it may be found necessary t0allow only one of the saws to operate at the same time the apparatus foralternately raising and lowering them al ready described is brought intouse, the upper saw being made to operate, while the log is moving in onedirection, and the lower saw while it moves in the opposite direction.`It will be perceived -that after the saws are adjusted to theparticular size of the log to be operated upon, all the motions of thismachine are automatic, whether the saws be made to operate alternately,or together; in the latter case, two clapboards are cut each time thecarriage moves either forward or backward while the peculiar mannerinwhich the cutters which dress the surface of the log are arranged andoperated enable the machine tobe operated at `a speed far exceeding thatheretofore attained upon machines of this class.

I do not claim two saws operating simultaneously upon opposite sides oft-he same piece of lumber; but

What I do claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentis,

l. rThe arrangement of devices substantially as described, by which thedistance between the saws is varied toA meet the varying thickness ofthe logs to be sawed, and the saws, when soadjusted, are elevated anddepressed together as required.

2. I claim the method substantially as herein described of feeding thelog between each successive cut of the saws, that is to say causing thefeeding pawl, or the lever which carries it, to strike against a fixedstop, in Combination with the yielding dog 7L arranged and operating asset forth.

3. I claim the method substantially as herein set forth, of raising andlowering the saws, when it is desired not to use them at the same time,but alternately during the forward and backward motion of the log, thesame being effected by the combination of the unlocking, shifting andlocking ap paratus m', h', 7c, c, in combination with the lever b andchains g, the whole operating in the manner substantially as herein setforth.

DUSTIN F. MELLEN.

